fly swap question

[daman1277]

I have never been involved with a fly swap just wondering how there work?

 

[boss_steb]

It is a bit like a cookie swap...

you get a group of tyers together...say 10. Each tyer makes 10 copies of a specific fly...

They all get sent to one person who collects and ships back 10 different flies to each participant.

Hope that helps...the key to being a good Swapper is tying your flies early and sending them in with correct postage and return packaging included. Timing is everything. Waiting on flies while most are in is killer...

Like a little bit of Christmas everytime I do one of these.

Boss

 

[daman1277]

Guess you really have to hope the person receiving all the flies mails them all out

 

[boss_steb]

That isn't typically the problem...the problem is life gets in the way...it has hapened for myself...

and you can't get the flies tied on time and sent out so everybody is waiting (anxiously) for their flies because I hadn't gotten my completed in a timely manner...

Life happens

 

[gfen]

Steb posts the idyllic version of how it works. The reality is that some guy on the forum says, "hey, let's have a fry swarp, ten people max! Thats not too bad, two flies each!"

In the coarse of the thread, it grows to 14 people who sign up, neccessitating you tie 28 flies, plus an additional whatever 5 to 10 for MODerators.

Now, while these 14 people are tying flies, the following things happen:

1) One to three people will drop out, two to five people will take their places.
1b) The coordinator drops out. Someone else steps into the middle as a favour.

2) Everyone ties 28 flies, but only some of them tie the additional 5-10 for the MODs. Some people tie extra.
2a) Some people are lazy, and just buy them from Flyshack.
2b) Some people never report back in, are they in or out? Who knows?!

3) The coordinator starts getting boxes in the mail. They pile on a desk. Its daunting.
3a) Some people never tie flies because they're lazy, they blame this on the package getting lost.
3b) Some people actually lose their packages, they look like lying d-bags because of 3a.
3c) Some people never report back in, others show up.

4) The coordinator looks at a pile of junk and thinks, "man, I need to do this." Puts it off.
4a) Coordinator wishes he drops out.
4b) Coordinator drops out, everyone's out over 9000 flies and thread goes into overdrive as people ***** and never forgive that guy.
4c) Someone dropped out, and no one knows what became of him.
4d) The coordinator realizes that people didnt' send correct postage, this makes him wish THEY dropped out as it will now cost him $20 to send **** back to people.
4e) Coordinator realizes he's short flies, extra flies, does he keep them or give them a way or WTH does he do witht hem? Also, not all MODerators will get all flies, he must then make a list of priorities. JackM gets shorted, because he's a PITA.

5) Flies get sent out.
5a) Some get lost.


5) Coordinator finally sends this flies out.
5a) See 3b.
5b) Coordinator sits on bags of flies for MODerators, when is he supposed to give these things out? Sits on them.

6) Everyone receive flies.
6a) See 5a. SOL!
6b) MODerators may receive flies at JAMs, most MODerators say they don't want them. Dkile ends up with large pile.

7) Everyone who participated looks at box of flies and says, "well, this looks nice, I'll stick to my usual though because its:
a) Really well made.
b) Novel, will copy!
c) Not _my_ fly.
"

And that's a fly swap.

 

[GreenWeenie]

GFen, So what you're saying is you're willing to volunteer and coordinate one.

 

[gfen]

I coordinated one, and was in another.

Some people enjoy them, and that's fine for them. Hence, as I said, Steb gave a very nice answer. My results were, for the case of the one I joined, entirely down to, "I don't really want to use these flies" for the various reasons listed.

The one I coordinated I was immensely happy with, and used most of them, except the ones that I wanted to copy.. what was that, 7b?!

 

[dubthethorax]

I can say that every one I've participated in on here has been great for the most part. The only really bad one was the one started on Instagram where about 1/3 of the guys never sent in their stuff.

You do get some really crappy flies back occasionally, but there's also some really innovative stuff as Gfen said above, you want to copy and/or are afraid to fish because it's too damn nice.

 

[flipnfly]

i dont think i was even in a fly swap that went bad i have had to drop out of a few though but i'd go by more of what boss said if you go by what gfen said it will scare the B'jezus out of ya and youll never want to ever leave your house let alone go fishing or to a fishing get together (jam) because of social anxieties


and im usually the one who sends the crappy flies out


thanks for the reminder g-fen i forgot to tie for the mods....

 

[flyfishermanj]

@gfen,

LMAO!!! Really enjoyed that post!

JH

 

[Leteras]

Flipnfly I have never seen you tie a bad fly. The ones you sent me were top notch.

 

[flipnfly]

ive tied a few crappy ones in my day

 

[boss_steb]

I concur...and even if they aren't pretty Flip....the all have caught fish that you sent me...

O yeah...and trees, and rocks, and the guy standing next to me...

But mostly fish...

Boss

 

[MD_Gene]

I have participated in two. In one I got the expected number of flies. Very nicely tied. The second swap, I and everyone else who participated got 0 and the swap master got them all. We tried asking, emailing... the guy just decided to rip everyone off. Some suspect that it was some kids seeing what they could get away with. Make sure you are swapping with people who have been on the board awhile.

As the forum moderators will tell you, "swapper beware". They have no control.

 

[jay348]

Gene, thats a shame about the swap gone bad.

The swap was something I hadn't previously heard of; and honestly it's one of the reasons I joined the site in the first place. Aside from waiting for the occasional late batch of flies, each one I've participated in has gone well.

Plus it makes you a better tier...I tend to figure out a new trick or two after cranking out a dozen or more of the same pattern.

 

[lv2nymph]

I've done four or five I think and the worst thing to happen has been missing the deadline, but hey, life sneeks up on you sometimes and things can get hectic. Just how it is, all have been good experiences.

 

[Love2fish]

I have participated in one swap and it went very well. For me being newer to ffing for trout every fly is in my box. Well except for two that a tree on Valley decided looked tasty. Some were tied at my level of skill while others looked like something from Orvis. If one pops up that I am comfortable with will try and join in again.

 

[FrequentTyer]

I have really enjoyed swaps on this forum, and on other forums. I think that it is a great way to gain exposure to new patterns and new ways to tie patterns you may already know. I've been annoyed by all the sorts of things that others have noted, but in the whole I think the positive experiences have been worth the troubles. I have cut way back on the number of swaps I entered this year for a couple of reasons, mostly personal stuff. But one thing that has kinda turned me off over the past year or so is that swaps (on all the boards) seem to have become more about getting flys and less about sharing the patterns and comments about each others ties. I have almost never fished a swap fly. I keep a lot of them for reference, some because they are just too nice to fish. I also keep a few because I don't fish a particular style or just don't have confidence in the pattern. But having participated in close to 40 swaps now, I don't think I have ever received a fly that I thought was so poorly tied that it could not catch a fish.
A few gratuitous and hopefully constructive suggestions for future swappers and swapmeisters:
1) Challenges always seem to lead to a better interaction among the swappers. For example, a BWO swap is great, but a BWO swap were everyone is limited to 3 materials, or each person to join has to tie a variation on the previous person pattern will get people more involved.
2) Post your pattern when you send out the fly, and take a few minutes to make toe tags. Waiting for a month and getting a tangled box of unlabeled flys is no fun. I don't remember what people said they were going to tie and I don't want to try and figure out which of the flys is which. Pictures are great too.
3) If you see something you like, post about it. Let the tyer know they did a good job. If you see something you don't like, find a way to comment constructively that does not make it seem like a criticism. "Hey Bob, I like that Caddis you tied. Have you ever tried to tie the wings on like this..." This is really important for new tyers, but can also lead to discussions that will benefit everyone involved.
4) Limit the number to 10 or 12 at the most. And we need to find a better way to express gratitude to the Mods. Tying an extra 4 is a lot more work, and everyone wants to do their best on these, so if the total number gets to be higher than 12 or so flys people are going to be late and drop out. I don't have a good answer for this, and I certainly think the Mods deserve the kind gesture. But I really think that this has led to problems.
5) Finally, the deadline should mean something. I get that things happen, and a day or two is not a big deal, but people still tying weeks after the deadline should have dropped out. It is disrespectful to the guys that got their contributions in on time.
I'll put my swap soapbox away now. Happy swapping!
Mike.

 

[lv2nymph]

Well said. ^^